After A Gesture Of Goodwill, Norton Appointed To Fill Final School Committee Seat

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Jill Norton of the Belmont School Committee.

It was a political gesture that’s hardly seen in an age of insulting opponents and demeaning the process.

A vote to fill the vacant seat on the Belmont School Committee by a joint meeting of the Belmont Board of Selectmen and the School Committee, on Friday, May 11, resulted in a four-to-four deadlock between Jill Norton and Michael Crowley, two of the four candidates seeking the position.

As the selectmen and committee were prepared for the second round of voting between the two, Crowley told the board he wished to “make things easy.”

“I appreciate that Jill got out and ran and I’ve talked to her a number of times … and she would do a fabulous job on the school committee,” as he graciously step aside, withdrawing his nomination to allow Norton, who unsuccessfully ran for a term on the committee, to serve the remaining two years of Thomas Caputo’s term after he was elected to the Board of Selectmen in April. 

The act caught the boards and residents by surprise as the Clark Street resident was unanimously approved by the board.

Crowley said his decision was not due to any sense of doing “the honorable thing.”

“I like [Norton] and it felt right,” said the Warrant Committee member. “I didn’t want to see any quibbling or arguing which I did see any benefit in that.” 

For Norton, Crowley’s reaction thwarted her own thoughts of ceding her votes to her opponent.

“It’s funny because I potentially was thinking of doing the same thing Michael did but he got there first,” she said, noting a financial background is important as the schools make up nearly half of the town’s annual budget.

The closeness of the vote showed the group were of two minds on the skills the School Committee would need in the coming years. The first four votes were for Crowley, emphasizing his budgetary and financial background as well as his membership on the town’s financial watchdog agency.

“There’s sort of a void in that hardcore, number crunching [skill set],” said Adam Dash, selectmen chair.

Norton, who received the final four votes, was seen bringing a policy approach while each of members who selected her said she deserved credit for stepping up and running a good campaign and were vetted by the voters.

“I do give a lot of credit who put themselves out there for the election,” said Susan Burgess-Cox, chair of the School Committee.

But the differences were made mute when Crowley abandoned the race.

As for the newest member, Norton has experience on the policy side of the education field. For the past two years, Norton has worked as Director of Education Policy at Cambridge-based Abt Associates, to help develop and execute a strategy for the firm’s Education Practice. Previously, she was a Senior Policy Adviser for the state’s Executive Office of Education and Executive Director of the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy, a Cambridge-based think tank, having started her career as a classroom teacher.

Norton matriculated at Michigan State University where she earned a BA in Elementary Education and received her Master’s in Education from Harvard. A 16 year Belmont resident, her oldest child attends Belmont’s public school.

Norton told the Belmontonian that her priority is to listen to the constituencies – teachers, students, parents, and administrators – within the districts before she brings proposals before the committee, “and is there any possible connection between our needs and funding and grant opportunities that the governor’s office is considering.” 

Norton said her family’s involvement with the cadre of educators teaching her son as well as her background in the classroom “intensifies my inclination to connect with teachers and support all the good work that they are doing and do whatever I can because that’s where the rubber meets the road.”

Asst. Belmont High Principal, Former Melrose Educator Named High School Interim Principal

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Thomas L. Brow.

The Belmont School District has appointed Thomas L. Brow as the interim Principal of Belmont High School for the coming 2018-2019 school year. Brow currently serves as a part-time assistant principal at Belmont High. 

“We are delighted that Tom has agreed to serve as Interim Principal of Belmont High School for the 2018-2019 school year,” read the press release issued by Mary Pederson, director of Human Resources for the district.

“The depth of his professional experience and his familiarity with the district, specifically with Belmont High School will serve the students and staff well in the coming year. We look forward to welcoming Tom to this new role on July 1, 2018.”

Brow has been working in the Belmont schools since retiring from the Melrose school system in 2015, first as interim assistant principal of Chenery Middle School, then as an interim assistant principal of Belmont High School, and as an instructional leadership coach in the district.

“[Brow] has had a long and distinguished career in education, serving in multiple roles within the Melrose Public Schools over [32] years, including the principal of the middle school for [17] years,” said Pederson.

During his tenure in Melrose, Brow served as interim principal of Melrose High School for one year. Including his times as a principal, Brow served as middle school assistant principal, chair of the social studies department, and social studies teacher. 

Peterson said Brow “has received numerous awards and distinctions and has made a significant contribution to the field of education. During his tenure in Melrose, Tom led multiple school building projects and expansion initiatives.”

Belmont Annual Town Meeting: First Night, Segment A

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Town bylaws.

7 p.m.: Hello, and welcome to the first night of the 2018 Belmont annual Town Meeting, which will be about non-budgetary articles. It’s nice to see a large crowd in the Belmont High School auditorium for what will be a fairly straightforward list of articles – nothing too controversial tonight – so we might be able to get out of Dodge by the end of both the Bruins and Celtics playoff games. 

So here is tonight’s agenda:

Article 1: Order of the articles 

Article 2: Authorization to represent the town’s legal interests

Article 3: Amend the general bylaws: Establish the Thaddeus Frost House Historic District

Article 4: Amend zoning bylaws: General Residence Zoning District, Sunset Clause

Article 5: Amend zoning bylaws: General Residence Zoning District 

Article 6: Citizen’s Petition: Single-use plastic check-out bags [Withdrawn]

Article 7: Amends general bylaws: Plastic Bags

Article 10: The fiscal 2019 Community Preservation Committee budget and projects

  • $103,000 to the Belmont Veterans Memorial.
  • $5,000 for architectural drawings for the music bandstand at Payson Park.
  • $25,000 for design documents and bid specifications for the Town Field playground.
  • $780,087 for the construction of Grove Street Park Intergenerational Walking Path.
  • $250,000 to fund eligible commitments by the Belmont Housing Trust that would increase housing units where new housing is being built, provide incentives to developers to develop affordable housing units, or fund pre-development work to determine if sites are suitable for community housing development.
  • $175,000 to stabilize the McLean Barn.

7:05 p.m.: We are right on Belmont time. Moderator Mike Widmer gets the meeting underway. Pastor Butler from the Open Door Church provides the invocation and the Boy Scouts presents the flag. The Chenery Middle School chorus sings the national anthem. The 30 (!) new town meeting members are sworn in. Nice number.

7:20 p.m.: Widmer said he hopes to get through the non-budgetary articles in three nights but that appears to be a hopeful wish. The under/over of three nights to complete the articles is one-in-five. 

The long-serving members are recognized including Marty Cohen with 43 years. Marty said four years ago he gave his retirement speech and he’s giving another one. I’ve enjoyed it very much not as a hobby and a duty but something you want to do well.” Standing O.

Mark Paolillo makes a wonderful speech at the reading of the proclamation for the late Bill Skelley. 

Craig Spinale, the Belmont Light interim GM, gives an update on the electrical distribution plan including the completion of the Blair Pond substation and the infrastructure – power lines – are (near) completed which will allow for the decommissioning of the three older sub-station. The substations will take up to five years for the one across from Town Hall and 6 to 10 for the other two. 

Bruins, Tampa Bay, 0-0 midway through the first period.

Patrice Garvin, our new town administrator, gets a big hand after being introduced by Selectmen chair Adam Dash.

7:40 p.m.: The first article that requires a vote is up and it’s the Thaddeus Frost House Historic District, introduced by Mike Chesson, Pct. 4. The Frost House is a circa 1805 Federalist farmhouse at 291 Brighton St., one of the last in Belmont. The owner wants to protect the exterior if it’s sold in the future. Selectmen unanimously voted favorably. It will be the fourth district in town. This article is well presented by the Historic District Commission with a combination of facts and history. Needs a two-thirds vote. The owner, Athena McInnis, gives her support to the measure. The first question from Warrant Committee chair Roy Epstein on the future use of Community Preservation Act funds to repair the house.

The vote is up and passes overwhelmingly, 237-15. Passes

7:58 p.m.: Steve Pinkerton of the Planning Board presents Article 4, which is the sunset clause of the General Residence Zoning District. This article will allow the restrictions on new construction on single and two family structures to limit the size and mass so they can be consistent with what’s in the neighborhood. Pinkerton said the bylaw has been very successful – developers have been working with the town – over the past three years so it should continue by striking the sunset clause. “Things are going quite well,” said Pinkerton.

Kevin Cunningham, Pct. 4, said he supports eliminating the sunset language because if it doesn’t, the entire bylaw will end which is not what anyone wants. No objection to the action.

The vote is up and it passes with only 16 “no”s with 238 in favor.

8:11 p.m.: Article 5 is up now. This article is known as the “porch and dormer” article which is more of a “housekeeping” issue. Since the zoning bylaw requires that any changes to a non-conforming structure go through a special permit process, small and non-complicated improvements have to go through the cumbersome site and design review in the Planning Board. This article will ship all smaller items – increases under 300 sq.-ft. – to the zoning board of appeals while the Planning Board will have more time to investigate larger additions and such.

Bruins/Lightning 1-1 after one; Celtics/Sixers underway.

Jack Weis, Pct. 2, asked if the ZBA knows they are getting all this new work and will the decisions have the same care and degree of involvement as with the Planning Board. “Yes,” said Edmund Starzec of the Planning Board. Bob McGaw, Pct 1, is acting as Town Meeting copy editor finding errors in the wording in the articles for the second time. Now Roy Epstein, chair of the Warrant Committee, is also finding his own errors. Ellen Cushman, Town Clerk, informs the third challenge to a word (by-law vs. bylaw) that it took her a few years to realize what was the correct.

It passes 242-9.

8:25 p.m., The plastic bag article. The reason article 6 was dismissed. This bylaw will end the use of plastic bags in Belmont, with Star Market, Nov. 1,  being the first to end its use with smaller retailers given a longer time frame, until Feb. 2019. Did you know 7.3 million bags are used by Belmont residents or about 300 per person? Don Mercier, Pct. 8, said that plastic bags cause less stress than cotton/paper bags. Mercier is making the case for the plastic industry. Not so sure he has much support although he has the data holding up his argument. He said the bylaw might seem like a good thing, but it could actually be detrimental to the environment. Bonnie Friedman, Pct. 3, said the town should support the use of compostable cups and paper by retailers. Anne-Marie Lambert, Pct. 8, asked if the town would have a campaign for behavioral change to go along with the ban. Sylvia Cruz, Pct. 5, asked what the impact on businesses in other towns. Campaigner Linda Levin-Scherz, Pct. 2, said they have heard from those businesses who said “Armageddon” didn’t come. Melissa MacIntyre, Pct. 8, said she’s buying eight reusable bags 

The vote is in and it passes 228-32.

9 p.m.: Moderator Mike Widmer wanted to stop for the night but the members immediately rattled the cage in disapproval. Widmer decided to throw the crowd article 8 and 9 to satisfy their appetite.

Celtics by 10 over the Sixers with a minute left in the second; Bruins down to the Lightning, 2-1, after two. 

9:13 p.m.: Marijuana tonight! Widmer goes with the two narrow pot-related articles: first up is the moratorium, Planning Chair Charles Clark is asking the town meeting to delay adult dope use facilities until Dec. 31, 2018 because there is a great deal of confusion – well, it IS marijuana – from the state and the law is very complex that has yet to be resolved. Clark said he did not feel that they had sufficient information to make zoning decision, protecting the town going forward. Mark Paolillo said more time is needed to discuss “time, place and manner” with town residents. Anne Mahon, pct. 4, believes a moratorium is just another delaying tactic. Two-thirds required. The first vote on pot is … 190 to 52.

9:26 p.m.: Article 9 is a three percent town tax on grass and product sales. Mercier said the town might be breaking federal law to accept the money. George Hall, town counsel, said he didn’t see the feds going after the state for taking in revenue. Emma Thurston, pct. 1, asked that the tax is not directed towards any specific expenditure. Hall said it goes into the general funds. Bob McLaughlin, as always, makes his point saying the moderator should ask only those in the hall who are against the tax to speak (figuring there was less of them) because the Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics were playing! The crowd cheers!

The vote is taken: 231- 7. 

 We are going home at 9:36 p.m. Weed Wednesday as the meeting will take up the opt-out article.

Belmont Youth Hockey Scores On Proposed New Rink Along Concord Avenue

By Leave a Comment

Photo: An overview of the proposed new Belmont Youth Hockey rink along Concord Avenue.

They patiently sat on the bench for the past two-and-a-half years since it last was action, but on Tuesday, April 24, Belmont Youth Hockey jumped over the boards to reintroduce itself to the community and the Belmont School Committee with its vision of a new skating rink for Belmont.

The structure will be a sleek single-story rink/recreation center located on Concord Avenue across from the Underwood Pools, creating with a new high school and public library a new community hub for Belmont, according to Belmont Youth Hockey representative Robert Mulroy who, along with Ara Krafian, CEO of Cambridge-based SMMA |Architects who created preliminary drawings of a new rink, who presented the plans to the School Committee.

If all goes to plan, the new rink/center could be up and running by 2020 before major construction begins on the new Belmont High School.

To make the whole thing work, the youth hockey organization is proposing a public/private partnership with the school committee and town which will allow the non-profit to take school property in a 30-year lease at zero cost with the stipulation Belmont High sports teams will have a set number of hours reserved for games and practices. That partnership agreement will need to pass muster from the school committee and Town Meeting.

A new rink that will not need significant public funding will be a small but significant capital expense removed from the town’s significant “wish list” of large projects that Belmont faces paying for which includes as new Police Headquarters, Department of Public Works facility and public library.

While reluctant to say how much the new center will cost as construction expenses have markedly increased, Mulroy quoted a price tag of $6.5 million in 2015. The construction of the new rink – which will require the demolition of both the White Field House and the Viglirolo rink, known as “The Skip”, which was built in the 1970s.

School committee members did raise questions on the impact of traffic along Concord Avenue with a brand new facility and high school just a few hundred feet from other., But Mulroy believes the nearly 180 new parking spaces and traffic pattern changes associated with a new High School project will alleviate the current demand of on-street parking on main and side streets created by the existing rink and vehicle congestion created by those seeking parking. 

Belmont Superintendent John Phelan said youth hockey was asked by the district and school committee to wait to present its proposal until the “footprint” of the new High School was determined, so not to create any interference with the design and location of the 7th to 12th-grade building.

The need for a new rink is evident once anyone enters “The Skip” which is the current home of Belmont Youth Hockey and the Belmont High teams. Built more than 40 years ago, the once open rink has one wall of corrugated steel open to the elements. (Once, a visitor from Calgary, Canada who attended a nephew’s game at “The Skip” on one bitter January night, said he had been in warmer outdoor arenas in his hometown than indoors in Belmont). The mechanical infrastructure is on “death’s door,” said Mulroy. 

“It’s not how long until there is a catastrophic failure. It’s that it will happen,” said Mulroy, whose league currently purchases three-quarters of all rental time at the rink. “But we have the capacity for a lot more,” he said.

A new rink comes as the youth hockey program has seen increased growth in participation and teams – eight developmental programs and 22 competitive traveling teams for boys and girls from 4 to 18 – in the program which started 47 years ago.

The rink/rec center would be located on school property facing Concord Avenue on the parking outcrop between the White Field House and the Mobil service station across from the Underwood Pool. It will be a short walk from Harris Field and will allow for a softball field and soccer/lacrosse pitch to be located in the rear.

The key points of a new Concord Avenue facility include:

  • A 6,500 square foot multi-use athletic/recreation center.
  • A year-round NHL-size rink with above the ice seating and a “half” rink, both can be used for ice hockey, public skating, figure skating, sled hockey and curling.
  • A field house for half the year (where the half-rink is located) for indoor tennis, concerts and a practice facility for baseball, soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, and rock climbing.
  • A running/walking track above the field house.
  • 180 parking spaces that can be used by pool patrons and a drop-off area at the rink’s entrance.
  • Eight new locker rooms that can be utilized by teams playing on nearby Harris Field.
  • A team or community meeting room for public meetings or continued learning classes.
  • Exercise/health room for yoga and exercise.
  • Food concession stand.
  • A skate shop

The facility will be funded with a private 30-year loan which requires the school committee to lease the land at no cost to the non-profit, with an agreement that Belmont High’s Boys and Girls ice hockey teams will have a specific number of hours dedicated to practice and games. Phelan pointed out with a rink, the school department would need to allocate more than $100,000 a year on rental fees at other rinks and bus transportation.

Public-private arrangements are fairly common, said Mulroy, including for recreational facilities pointing to a pair of nearby examples: the Beede Pool and Gym in Concord and the Wellesley Sports Complex which will open later this year. 

The rink will be run by a professional management company. At the end of the 30 years, the town will have the opportunity to take possession of the facility or allow the existing management contract to continue under a new agreement. 

The Youth Hockey Association has been discussing an alternative location for the rink at the former incinerator on Concord Avenue at the Lexington/Belmont line. It would be an 80,000 sq.-ft. complex with two full ice surfaces and parking. While the association has been in discussions with officials and town counsel exploring the feasibility of the town-owned location, Mulroy said the clear first option for youth hockey is the high school site.

Mulroy said the next steps will be gathering feedback from the School committee and residents before seeking support from both the committee and Town Meeting to move forward. Once it gets the initial OK, Youth Hockey will release a Request for Proposal to build the facility and finalize the lease agreement. Afterward, the final designs will be done and the financing will be secured. The final step is to go back to the School Committee and Town Meeting for final approval of the lease deal. 

Belmont OKs First Housing Production Plan; Keys On Seniors, Young Families

By Leave a Comment

Photo: The leaders of the effort to bring a Housing Production Plan to Belmont: (from left), Charles Clark, Judy Singler,  Judith Feins, Rachel Heller, Gloria Leipzig.

With the median sales price of single-family homes reaching seven figures and new residential construction being gobbled up for well over a million dollars, it wouldn’t appear the residents choosing to live in affluent “Town of Homes” would have a problem obtaining and keeping their homes 

In fact, one of four Belmont households is eligible for affordable housing.

According to the Belmont Housing Trust, more than one in four Belmont homeowners and nearly half of all renters are cost-burdened when it comes to paying for basic housing expenses, more than 30 percent of their income for the places they live.

While the demand is there, the supply of “affordable” units is wanting; only 6.7 percent of Belmont properties are deemed as affordable, according to data compiled by the Metro West Collaborative Developers.

“We were pretty surprised and you may be too to see how disproportion the need relative to the affordable house that we have,” said Judith Feins, chair of the Belmont Housing Trust, established nearly two decades ago to investigate ways of bringing people and affordable housing together.

Now, in a historic vote, the Board of Selectmen unanimously approved Belmont’s first Housing Production Plan directing the town to assist in the building and preservation of affordable units that will assist residents such as elderly households and young families which are disproportionately impacted by the current housing stock. 

“We can finally say Belmont is moving in the right direction increasing housing that’s desperately needed,” said Feins.

“These are all laudable goals and it leverages additional funding from the state. This is long overdue,” said Adam Dash, Selectmen chair. 

The town’s new housing blueprint has been a long-time coming as the Housing Trust first approached the town seven years ago to begin the process that most municipalities in eastern Massachusetts have approved. 

A major delay was due to the strung-out approval process for the Cushing Village (known today as The Bradford) project which acted like a black hole for all other board business and previous Planning Boards did not see the urgency to take up the proposal.

That changed with the appointment of Charles Clark as chair and with a majority of new members coming on the board last fall. A long-time supporter of the Trust’s goals, Clark said the plan was finally able to pass – on a unanimous vote – seeing the proposed plan was needed.

“You have to want it to happen and you have to think it’s important,” said Clark.

The plan is a proactive strategy for planning and developing housing “that can shape their future in developing community and affordable housing,” Feins told the selectmen. It also determines how the town reaches the target of 10 percent affordability housing stock set by the state in General Law Chapter 40B.

The plan’s goal is to increase affordable housing by 337 units to meet the state’s affordability standard with the spotlight on creating more housing for three specific groups:

  • senior households
  • young newly-formed families and
  • extremely and very low-income households

The Planning Board early this year suggested some clarity changes to the Trust’s original plan which the Trust came back after “rethinking” the plan with those “constructive ideas” incorporated into the revised plan, said the Trust’s Gloria Leipzig.

The Trust proposes to increase housing production via a number of “concrete strategies,” including:

  • Redevelop abandoned or underutilized parcels on South Pleasant Street, the McLean Senior Residence site, the Purecoat factory adjacent Belmont High School, the vacant gas station on Blanchard Road and property on church and other religious properties.
  • Maximize housing development at transportation hubs such as the Moraine Street and increase housing over shops and stores.
  • Invest in the revitalization and preservation of the town’s stock of community housing such as Sherman Gardens and Belmont Village.
  • Use Community Preservation Act funds on new programs such as spending annually 10 percent of the total CPA on housing, use the funds to leverage the purchase and development of community housing when land becomes available. 

The plan now heads for approval by the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development. If the OK comes quickly, the town will be able to become a state Housing Choice Community by its April 30 deadline for Belmont to be eligible for state funds. 

Leipzig said the Trust and the Planning Board and Selectmen will continue working on implementing the plan through town government action – such as seeking zoning changes to help facilitate the creation and preservation of housing – and acquiring state grants and loans.

Town Meeting Preview: Warrant Briefing Monday Night

By 1 Comment

Photo: Belmont Town Meeting in action.

The Belmont League of Women Voters and Warrant Committee is co-sponsoring the annual warrant briefing to acquaint Town Meeting members with the non-financial articles on the Town Meeting warrant.

The meeting will take place Monday evening, April 23 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St. This is an opportunity for Town Meeting members and the general public to ask questions of town officials and department heads concerning any of the warrant articles prior to the 2018 Town Meeting beginning in one week on Monday, April 30

Warrant Committee Chair Roy Epstein will preside.

Town Election ’18: Donner, Burgess-Cox Heading To School Board As Few Voters Venture Out To The Polls

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Asst. Town Clerk Meg Piccione reading the results of the Belmont Town Election on April 3.

In a town election that saw one of the lowest turnouts in the past decade, a teacher topped the ballot in the race to run the Belmont’s schools. 

In the only competitive town-wide race, newcomer Tara Donner outpaced incumbent Susan Burgess-Cox, 1,767 to 1,517, to fill the two three year seats on the school committee as fellow newbie Jill Souza Norton just missing out finishing third with 1,349 votes. School Committee Chair Lisa Fiore ran unopposed for a one-year term on the committee.

Read all the unofficial results of the town-wide and Town Meeting races here.

A last-minute write-in candidacy by well-known resident Tomi Olsen was swept aside by the vote for current School Committee member Tom Caputo who ran as the only official candidate for the Board of Selectman, garnering 2,106 votes, or 94 percent of those who cast ballots.

Over on the Town Meeting side of the ballot, some interesting results were noted including two longtime ballot toppers who just barely held onto their seats; both Lydia Ogilby (Precinct 1) and Donald Mercier (Precinct 8) both came in 12th with Mercier taking the last slot by a mere nine votes over Mark Smith.

In the race of town-wide candidates battling it out on the Town Meeting ballot, Burgess-Cox topped Caputo, 214 to 203, to “win” Precinct 2’s top spot while Precinct 1’s Peter Dizikes garnered the most votes of all the precincts with 324. In the closest race, Linda Levin-Scherz defeated Elizabeth Khan by three votes, 125-122, to take the one-year seat in Precinct 2. 

Stopping by a crowded Town Clerk’s Office to pick up the unofficial results, first-time candidate Dovie Yoana King learned she tied for second receiving 164 votes. The newly-elected Precinct 7 member said she was “very excited” to become heading to Town Meeting in a month as her presence will add much-needed diversity in Belmont’s legislative body. With her son by her side, King said she hopes to give a voice to survivors of domestic violence but also represent all people in the precinct which she noted is populated by the most varied groups in Belmont.

A cold, wet miserable afternoon and the lack of competitive races appeared to have kept residents from the polls as participation was an anemic 16.5 percent as 2,816 residents voted at Belmont’s eight precincts. This election’s number is well below the 28 percent seen last year and 22 percent in 2016. The 2015 town election which included a $3.5 million override on the ballot brought out 51 percent.

Belmont isn’t a stranger to unenthusiastic participation on election day; in 2009, only 1,438 voters or 5.89 percent of total registered voters came out. 

As Belmont High Walkout Kept From Public View, Watertown Protest An Open Affair

By 1 Comment

Photo: An image from the Belmont High School National School Walkout. (Special thanks to Seneca Hart and Sonya Epstein for making the rally photos available.)

On Wednesday morning, March 21, about three dozen people made up of parents, residents, town officials and the media stood on Concord Avenue near the exit of the access road leading from Belmont High School. Bundled up against a cold east wind, the adults came to support those students taking part in the “ENOUGH: National School Walkout” protest.

But the residents’ location was more than a quarter mile away from the school, having been barred from coming close enough to be seen or heard by the students. Belmont Police vehicles were stationed 100 meters along the access road from the school’s entrance, blocking the public and press from coming any closer to the walkout. Police officers told press representatives that the public way as “school department property.” producing a map on a mobile device from the Office of Community Development purporting to show the property surrounding the high school including all the land, paths and roadways around Clay Pit Pond.

“They control it,” said a Belmont Police officer.

In a letter sent to a parent of one of the walkout organizers, Belmont School Superintendent John Phelan wrote that students “safety,” and preserving the educational integrity of the school required the event being held far from the public and press. The student organizers – Lydia Fick, Seneca Hart, Gayané Kaligian and Georgia Sundahl – had reached out to the media to help promote their cause and allow the greater Belmont community to hear what they had to say on effective measures to reduce gun violence at all schools. But the department’s purported concerns for the students trumped the campaigners’ efforts to raise the debate beyond an assembly at the high school.

At 10 a.m., what appeared to be groups of student began assembling in the plaza at the school’s entrance and on the roadway. Then … silence.  What was being said, who was being honored, how Belmont students were reacting to the tragic events of last month was lost in the distance the Belmont school department deemed necessary to keep the students safe from the greater community.

At the same time Belmont students were meeting, two-and-a-half miles away a similar walkout took place at Watertown High School. The home of Belmont’s traditional sports rival, several hundred students stood outside that school’s front entrance to hear speeches and stand in silence as the names of the 17 students, teachers and staff killed in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were read and a candle placed on a table in their honor.

But rather than police stationed to limit access, anyone who came to the Watertown walkout was welcomed. The students were joined by a dozen members of Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment who assembled across the street.

As reported by Charlie Breitrose, editor of the Watertown News, the powerful comments of Watertown High students provided context to the event, one which was not lost on students and the public.

“The lack of stricter gun regulation is putting our lives at risk,” said Watertown junior Seren Theriaul. “This Walk Out is not a protest against our school but yet against a government that has failed us.”

Other Watertown students urged continued activism on preventing gun violence at schools. “The group behind the Walk Out will organize voter registration drives at Watertown High School, and he encouraged students to stay involved through events such as the March to End Gun Violence rally in Boston and on Saturday, March 24,” wrote Breitrose.

“If you have an idea or passion or belief and if you are a liberal or you are a conservative, make your idea be heard,” said senior Jeremy Ornstein. “No one side will make these schools safe, we need every voice.”

“Today, Watertown, let’s mourn quietly and tomorrow let’s keep our voices loud,” Ornstein said. “Parkland, I’m so sorry.”

In Belmont, student photos of the rally began popping up on social media. Images of kids in a crowd, arms around each other, demonstrating solidarity. Yet the collection of pictures resembled one of the so many events that take place at the school; a Memorial Day remembrance, a sports celebration, the first day of school.

As the students began moving back into the school, the residents along Concord Avenue started loudly chanting that they supported their cause and action.

But it appeared that no one at the school could hear.

Breaking: Joey’s Park Closed For Month Due To Returning Rodents

By Leave a Comment

Photo: A snapshot of a social media site concerning trash at Joey’s Park.

They’re back!

After a failed attempt to eradicate vermin from their home at Joey’s Park, the Belmont Board of Health and the Highway Division of the Department of Public Works have today, Monday, Feb. 26, closed the popular Winn Brook neighborhood playground for a second time as it attempts to send the rats packing.

The town has hired Assurance Pest Solutions to treat the reemergence of large rat burrows with a deterrent solution dubbed Rat-Out Gel, made of garlic oil and white pepper. The plan is for the irritant to force the rodents into traps at baiting stations in the park. 

While it’s being treated and monitored for the next three to four weeks, the playground will be closed to the public.

This is the second attempt by the town to root out the rats at the park located adjacent to the Winn Brook School. 

The town is urging the public to assist it in keeping the play area clean of food scraps and trash which attract the rodents. In recent weeks, a social media site geared toward parents in Belmont focused on the general level of uncleanliness at the park, including photos of food containers, general garbage, and a soiled diaper.

For more information, contact the Belmont DPW at 617-993-2680 or the Belmont Health Department at 617-993-2720.

Belmont Households To Receive 96-Gallon Recycling Barrels This Fall

By Leave a Comment

Photo: An example of recycling barrels from Cambridge.

In the past, whenever the topic of trash and recycling was on the Board of Selectmen’s agenda, it was likely the board’s second-floor meeting room at Town Hall would be overflowing with interested residents. So with the future of recycling collection as the only item before the Selectmen on Monday, Feb. 12, the board decided to move the meeting into the cavernous Town Hall auditorium anticipating a good number to attend.

But times have changed in the past few months as the special meeting began with only four citizens in attendance and that was cut in half by the end of the 80 minutes of deliberation and discussion. 

Whatever the reason for the lack of interest in what was once a hot topic in town, at the end of the meeting, the Selectmen unanimously approved the recommendation of the Belmont Department of Public Works that by the fall all recyclables – paper, plastic, glass, metal cans and cardboard – will be collected biweekly using a 96-gallon wheeled barrel that will be issued to every household in Belmont.

And like the weekly trash collection, recyclables will be collected curbside by a truck using an automated “arm”. 

“This is a major sea change for the town,” said Selectman Mark Paolillo.

The move to an automated system was out of necessity and economics, according to DPW Director Jay Marcotte. From radical changes in what type and condition recyclables will be accepted by China – which for the past two decades has been called “the world’s garbage dump” – to the sudden collapse in the secondary materials market, haulers and recycling facilities are streamlining their operations to remain in business.

One area that new efficient methods are taking place is with recyclables, where Belmont’s long-standing dual stream recycling – paper in one bin and everything else in another – is being replaced with the one-barrel system as recycling facilities will no longer maintain two separate staging area at its plants. 

“There’s not debate, it will be single stream” recycling going forward into the future, said Marcotte. 

Marcotte pointed out that over a decade, the cost of the automated pickup will fall below the current-used manual method (in which person throws the recycles into the back of a truck) as the cost of approximately 10,100 barrels is paid off. In the initial fiscal year, 2019, the manual pickup would cost $688,200 compared to $716,850 under the automated system, while in fiscal 2024, which would be the option year with a five-year contract, automated costs dip to $747,400 while the manual method would soar to $817,300. 

In addition, the automated system with the large containers have several advantages over the manual mode, according to Recycling Coordinator Mary Beth Calnan including less liter – windy days wreak havoc with the uncovered bins as papers and other recyclables are blown around neighborhoods – the covers keep the material dry lessening contamination, and the barrels will prevent rodents and squirrels from rummaging through the recyclables. 

And why did Belmont select the sizeable 96-gallon barrel for recycling? “It’s the industry standard,” said Marcotte.

While agreeing to the change in the coming contract – Marcotte said the town is very close to signing a five year agreement with one of the three firms that submitted acceptable proposals – the Selectmen advised the DPW to conduct an extensive public outreach on the recyclables  especially targeting older residents so they will be comfortable with the changes coming, including providing smaller recycling barrel options as the DPW is doing with garbage collection containers.

Marcotte said while the new garbage and recycling collection contract begin on July 1, the new containers will not be delivered to residents for about two months so the current system will continue until that time.

Paolillo said he believes household recycling rates through town will increase as residents have a single container to store their recycables.

Categories

Archives

Pages

The Belmontonian LLC 12 Unity Ave. Belmont, MA 02478 617-932-9229 Contact Us

Sign Up For

The Belmontonian Newsletter.